Filter Content
- Important Notices
- School Calendar
- Principal
- Deputy Principal
- Head of Department - Curriculum
- Join the P&C Kingfishers Swimming Club!
- Little Patch P&C Community Garden
- P&C Colour Explosion Fundraiser
- School Zone Safety - advice for motorists, parents and carers
- School Plus - Before and After School Care
- Medications at School 2024
- Look Out Program
- Lost property - F Block
- School Crossing Supervisor EOI
- Community News
- Sponsors
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TO NOTIFY OF AN ABSENCE 1. Absence email: 2. QParents App: 3. Phone Student Absence Line: |
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Uniform Shop 2024 Term 1 Open 8am - 9:30am Online ordering: School Locker |
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Note: Information is sent from New Farm State School, newfarmss@schoolzineplus.com To avoid missing these important emails, please add this email address to your inbox Favourites list. |
IMPORTANT NOTICES
What if my child is unwell?
Any child who is showing signs of illness or feeling unwell, should stay at home.
If a child is showing signs of illness at school, the school will contact the parent or carer to collect the child.
Welcome Back to School
Welcome back to all students, families and staff. We are pleased to have enrolled 80 new Prep students and approximately 35 other students across Year 1 – 6. We also welcomed new staff members to our New Farm team, including Ms Beeston on Year 2 and Mr Nash on Prep. Day 8 census confirms the class allocations will remain stable without any changes required. This is good news and will enable staff to now organise their parent / teacher information sessions in the coming week. Details will be sent out via dojo and schoolzine.
Staffing Update
This term we welcome Stan Williams as Business Manager. This term our current BM Jenny Deans will continue to train staff and assist Stan as the transition to the BM role for 2024.
This week we also farewelled Ms Chen as she begins her retirement after a long education career. Ms Chen has taught at New Farm since 1997 and inspired the learning of languages, music and culture within our community and beyond. Through the years Ms Chen has supported student involvement in language competitions, drama performances, special event participation such as the Prince Siddakah performance at QPAC, the Buddha Festival at South Bank, and our Fete dance performances, as well as organising excursions to the Buddhist Temple in Brisbane. Ms Chen will be missed by our community and we wish her all the best for her retirement.
Swimming
Swimming lessons began this week for Years 1-6. In terms 1 & 4 our Physical Education lessons focus on swimming, with the exception on Prep who swim only in term 4. Permissions and payments are required for participation. If you need any financial assistance for any events, please contact our Business Manager Stan Williams on admin@newfarmss.eq.edu.au .
Attendance
Every Day of school attendance counts and research tells us those students who attend 85% and higher are more likely to achieve better results and have better social networks among peers. While attendance generally is over 90%, the ideal is 95%. An area which needs some improvement is to see a decrease in early departure of students in the afternoons. This is especially high on Friday afternoons and causes disruption to classes. While I understand that appointments are at times unavoidable, I would appreciate if you could be mindful of this issue.
Arrival times – students should arrive near 8:30am. Our Schools Plus service uses our area until this time so if you are not attending Schools Plus, please do not arrive before 8:30am as there is no formal supervision before this time. Before school play areas from 8:30 include the oval, netball court and the upper section of the prep play area.
For late arrivals after 9am, Parents please remember to send your child to the office, where they can obtain a late slip to present to the teacher.
For early departure before 3pm, for an appointment or similar, parents must go to the office, sign their child out, take an early departure slip to the classroom, and present it to the teacher before collecting their child.
For absence such as illness, please ring through to the school office, email the school on absence@newfarmss.eq.edu.au or send a message through QParents before 8:30am .
For longer-term absences, such as family trip overseas for emergent reasons, please see the office staff and complete a submission for exemption. Please note holidays may not granted under ‘exemption’ and recorded as ‘holiday’.
Please also remember that regular attendance is paramount to high achievement.
Attendance + Effort = Achievement
Communication
Below for your information is a parent brochure explaining our main modes of communication. Two of the main points to note is that:
- Class dojo messages may not be addressed during the school day as teachers will be teaching.
- For concerns, complaints, after school arrangements or appointments for meetings, please email the administration.
Creating a positive school culture
At New Farm State School, we pride ourselves on our positive school culture and with your help we can make it ever stronger. You can do your part by speaking positively about the school and when interacting with staff. If there is an issue that needs addressing ask for a meeting to discuss your concerns and understand that there may be times when compromises are necessary.
No one benefits from negative comments or gossip about other school community members – including students – whether it’s in person, in writing or on social media.
Please recognise that staff are responsible for supporting the whole school community and every student is important. Remember we are all working together for your child. Your child, our student. One team.
Before School Arrangements
We open a few areas for play at 8.30 a.m. These are the Netball Court, the area in front of reception, Prep area for prep children, with parents, and the oval. Adventure playgrounds are not open, even if you are with your child. We really appreciate your support directing your child/children to these areas, ensuring children are in supervised areas and allowing our teachers undisturbed prep time.
It is important that children are not dropped off to school earlier than 8.30 a.m., unless they are booked into OSHC.
Lunchtime Clubs
Our lunchtime clubs begin this week. Our teachers will remind students of what is on, when and will help our new students to know where to go. Our lunchtime clubs change every term so hopefully everyone will find something they are interested in.
Whole School Rules
Every class has started the year with an age-appropriate reminder of our Whole School Rules: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be a Learner and Be Safe. It’s powerful messaging when backed up at home and we appreciate you talking to your child/children about these rules especially Be Respectful; follow adult directions.
Term Curriculum Overviews
Welcome to a new year! By now you would have received your child’s Term 1 Curriculum Overview that outlines what your child is learning this term. These documents provide a handy snapshot of each learning area and I recommend displaying this on your fridge (or other high visible location) throughout the term. Use this document as a prompt to discuss what your child is doing at school. Asking open-ended questions is a great way to start a meaningful conversation about your child’s school day.
Dance Curriculum
Dance has begun this week for years 3-6. Dance is one of 5 subjects (Dance, Drama, Visual Arts, Media Arts and Music) of The Arts curriculum and involves the creation of dances to tell a story. This term years 3-6 will be exposed to a variety of dances and will perform at their annual Dance Extravaganza in Week 10. We can’t wait to see the show!
Physical Education
Swimming for years 1-6 begun this week and with our recent hot weather, it has been a welcome plunge into the pool! Please remember to name all belongings to ensure lost items can be returned quickly to their respective owners.
QParents
We kindly ask that all NFSS families register with QParents.
QParents is a parent portal that we are progressing towards making our one-stop-shop platform for parents. Recent upgrades to the functionality of QParents, means that it will become a portal for permissions for school excursions.
QParents is available via either a website or a handy app, which enables fast access to pay multiple invoices at once and provide multiple permissions at once.
First Club Night: Friday, February 2
Time: 5:15 PM for a 5:30 PM Start
Finish Time: 7:00 PM
Location: New Farm State School Pool
Free Admission!
What to Expect:
- Exciting Swim Races
- Fun Races for All Ages
- Sausage Sizzle (available for a small charge)
- Refreshing Drinks (available for a small charge)
Who Can Join:
- Open to Primary School Students from All Over the Community
- Must be able to swim 20m (with or without a kickboard) without adult support
- A parent must attend with the participant
Our Mission:
- Encouraging Everyone to Dive In
- Having Fun
- Building a Community
Join Us for a Splashin' Good Time!
We are excited to welcome swimmers of all skill levels and backgrounds. Come and be a part of the Kingfishers Swimming Club and experience the joy of swimming, fun, and community building.
For more information, contact us at David Treloar 0409 167 261
See you by the pool!
School Garden working bee - this Saturday, 3-5pm, all welcome!
This coming Saturday, Feb 3rd, is the first of the monthly working bees for the various school gardens. They are held on the first Saturday of every month, from 3-5pm, and involve working across the three of the schools edible gardens - Little Patch (next to the tuckshop), Little Farm (the project space in the amphitheatre) and Beeston St (the hillside entrance below the oval).
For this coming Saturday, volunteers will meet at the Beeston St entrance to the school. Bring a hat and a water bottle. No gardening experience required and all are welcome. Stay for as little or as long as you like!
Working bee dates across the year are as follows:
February 3rd
March 2nd
April 6th
May 4th
June 1st
July 6th
August 3rd
September 7th
October 5th
November 2nd
December 7th
Get your Colour on, New Farm State School is hosting a Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun!
Our Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun will be on Friday 1 March from 1pm to 3pm.
Not only are we hosting an awesome Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun, Students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They can even mix and match! Don’t want the prizes, donate your donations to one of the five causes – Carbon Neutral (tree planting), Great Barrier Reef Foundation (coral planting or turtle protection), The Smith Family (reading support) or OzHarvest (providing meals).
Students have received a sponsorship book with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au This is an entirely online fundraiser; all cash donations must be converted to online donations to redeem your prizes.
Extra Incentives to Fundraise!
- Online Golden Coins – complete fun online tasks to redeem an extra $75 towards your prize credit.
- Monty the Monstar’s Bonus Prizes – achieve milestones to unlock Monty’s bonus prizes.
- $10,000 Budget Booster Bonanza Spending Spree for one organisation’s highest fundraising student
- Our school will win an extra $5,000 if we have the highest average fundraised amount per student in 2024.
- A Play Station 5 Gaming Bundle – see your child’s sponsorship booklet for more!
For more information, please contact New Farm State School P&C via president@nfsspandc.com.au
Happy fundraising!
With school back for 2024, we need to keep safety top-of-mind when travelling through active school zones and around our school community.
School zone times have been standardised in Queensland to help motorists remember when to slow down. The standard operating times for most school zones in Queensland are 7–9am and 2–4pm, with some operating all day between 7am–4pm.
Speeding remains a significant concern, contributing to fatalities and injuries, and police will be on the lookout for speeding motorists. Keeping below the signed speed limit in school zones helps keep everyone safe. This simple adjustment may have minimal impact on travel time but has the potential to significantly contribute to saving lives.
Children's crossings are identified by children's crossing flags, displayed near crossings before and after school hours.
When the crossing is supervised, you, as a motorist, must:
- Wait until all pedestrians, bicycle riders, or personal mobility device riders have crossed the road and the crossing supervisor has returned to the footpath.
- Abide by the direction given by the School Crossing Supervisor.
Please keep our children safe by staying alert, slowing down and obeying our school crossing supervisors who are there to help kids cross the road safely.
You can also help children become more road safety aware by:
- Showing them how to look for vehicles coming in and out of driveways and discourage them from playing behind parked cars, or with toys or balls when walking to school.
- Ensuring your child knows the safest route to and from school. This is usually the way with the least traffic and the fewest roads to cross and teach your child to always walk on footpaths.
- Showing your child how to cross at traffic lights when the green 'walk' sign is showing at pedestrian crossings when vehicles have stopped and at supervised school crossings when the supervisor has signalled it is safe to do so.
- Accompanying children when walking or riding to school until they are old enough to understand road safety (usually around 10 years or older).
- Teaching your child if they catch the bus to never cross in front of or behind a bus; wait until the bus goes before crossing the road.
- Making sure wheeled devices (bicycle, scooter, skateboard, or rollerblades) used to travel to school are well maintained and that the appropriate protective and safety gear (for example, helmet, visible clothing, knee and elbow pads) are used.
Visit the Street Smarts website for more information about what to do at pedestrian and children crossings.
If your child/ren have a medical condition requiring regular or emergency administration of medication, please make sure you have supplied school with the following:
- A CURRENT Action Plan for Asthma and Allergies – these are to be reviewed on a yearly basis, if your current action plan expires by the end of March 2024 please arrange a new one.
- An accompanying letter from a Doctor for all medication that may need to be administered during school hours – detailing when, why and how much medication is required to be administered at school.
IF YOUR CHILD/REN SELF ADMINISTER THEIR MEDICATION THIS NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY DISPLAYED IN BOTH THE LETTER FROM THE DOCTOR AND IN THE ACTION PLAN
Parents are also required to provide a letter detailing their consent for their child/ren to administer their own medication.
- Medication must be in the original container and must have a pharmacy label with your child’s name and the prescribing Doctor/Dentist’s details.
- If required, Parents will need to fill out an “Administration of Medication” form. If your child requires more than one medication, a form for each medication will need to be filled out.
Please note that unless all of these are received, staff cannot administer medication during school hours.
Providing Medication to the School
Parents are welcome to drop medication to the Admin Office between 9am – 3pm daily.
Students are not permitted to transport their own medication. An adult must attend and provide medication and complete any require consents.
For all emergency medication, once it has been received and recorded by administration, all medication (e.g. asthma medication, anaphylaxis medication) will be put into a labelled box and stored in the administration building First Aid Room.
If your child/ren’s medical status changes (e.g. asthma action plan no longer relevant, allergy severity decreased etc) please let the school know via email through firstaid@newfarmss.eq.edu.au so that we may update our systems.
The Look Out Program is a Pedestrian and Traffic Interaction program that “looks out” for our kids – the implication is one of care and concern. The Look Out program assists the school to help manage the flow of traffic in our 2 minute pick up zone on Annie Street in an orderly safe way. The Look Out Monitors are volunteers / representatives of the School. Please be respectful and courteous.
Please email interest to admin@newfarmss.eq.edu.au
